City of Manhattan looking to improve Cico Park

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - The City of Manhattan and Riley County Parks Boards met for a long-planned joint meeting this last Monday, discussing the looming Cico Park improvements that were planned back in 2017.

Wyatt Thompson, interim director of Parks and Recreation, said that they hope to make these improvements for the community. ”We envision a complete remake of some of the athletic facilities at Cico Park and so voters in 2017 approved a sales tax for funding, and at that time we talked with them about improvements to the ballfields,” said Thompson.

The quarter-cent sales tax funded the creation of Manhattan’s middle school rec centers, with 8.5 million dollars in the temporary tax revenue being marked toward Cico Park improvements. Concepts include the reconstruction of 4 new ballfields with synthetic turf as well as 12 tennis courts and paved parking lots – among other items.

Thompson says they’re still on track with the original 2017 timeline, with 2023 to serve as a pre-design public input period and 2024 being when design work incorporating that input will begin in earnest – looking at 2025 and beyond the construction time frame.

Copyright 2022 WIBW. All rights reserved.